I floated in a world of pain, barely conscious. They'd left me behind in the darkness after they finished with their experiments, leaving pads on my arms to clot the blood after they'd taken their samples. I don't know how long I floated in the darkness, but I felt all alone.

I blinked, and I was back at home, eating dinner with my mom like I usually did. Peter had a room back at the Cadmus Institute, so he wasn't home much. The dinner was small, something I helped cook with my mom.

We didn't have a table in the dining room or kitchen to eat at, so we ate around the coffee table, sitting on the only two chairs there. This was one of the rare occasions that Mom actually got home early enough to eat dinner with me. Usually, she'd return an hour or so before my bedtime. I picked at my meal, poking my chopsticks at the dry noodles.

"Where's Peter?" Mom asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, puzzled. "Peter's still at the Institute."

My mom stared back at me with haunted eyes.

"I thought I said I wanted you both back home in time for dinner," she said.

"What?" I whispered.

The memories of the evacuation flooded back in. The Gholians shooting up the shuttles in space. Dead bodies floating outside the window. Monsters charging into our cabin, shooting students and faculty.

"No. Wait. I-"

Blink.

"Wait a minute," Peter said, peering out the window in the shuttle.

We floated in zero gravity, waiting for the rescue ships to arrive. Outside, just barely visible through the small viewport, a massive ship emerged from a rift in space, surrounded by a halo of red light. A portal.

Around us, students started murmuring in excitement. We'd been waiting out here for a while. It was about time some rescue ships showed up.

"Wait a minute," Peter repeated.

"What?" I asked.

"That's not a-" Peter started to say, and then our shuttle blew up.

Blink.

Peter lay on a table, strapped down to make a human tee. Needles pierced him everywhere, and his screams sent chills down my back. Someone, a Krakoshan, bent over him, dressed in laboratory scrubs. Others flocked around him, dressed in similar clothing and clutching various tools with sharp edges and needles and long probes. They were working a device, and I shifted to get a better look. When I saw it, I screamed, but nobody seemed to hear me. They were cutting him open!

"Peter!" I shouted. "Peter!"

"Charlie!" he screamed. "Help me!"

Blink.

A hand rested on my shoulder, gently shaking me. My face stung, like I'd been slapped. I knew the feeling. A loud screech rang through the air, familiar enough that I knew I'd heard it before, but my mind was too foggy to figure out what it was.

"Wake up!" a girl shouted.

She sounded bossy. I groaned, wincing as the pain of the recent experiments suddenly caught up to me. I gasped for air, fighting through the pain, making fists with my hands. There was a hand on my shoulder, I remembered. I turned toward the person, squinting through the darkness.

"Peter...?" I asked, confused.

"I'm Nicholas," the person said. "This is Amala. C'mon, you gotta get up."

"What?" I asked, feeling dazed.

"Get up," the girl said. What was her name? Amala. That was it. Amala. "We have to leave, now."

I pushed myself upright, dragging my feet while I summoned the strength to get up. My body felt weird, stiff in some places and sore in others. By now, the shrieking noise was getting to me, threatening to give me a headache.

"Feels weird," I said, my voice coming out thickly. "What's that noise?"

"It's the alarm," Amala said, sounding cross. "Don't worry about it."

I started to stand, putting a hand on the table for support. The boy, Nicholas, tried helping me but I gently waved him away. If I was going to stand, I was going to do it on my own. Looking around, I realized that I had lost my things, including my backpack. Again.

My hand shot to my jacket pocket, feeling for the brass shell. When I found it again, I almost collapsed with relief, bunching the fabric there as I made a fist around it.

"You have to walk," Amala said, a note of urgency entering her voice. "We can't carry you. Nicholas can support you if you really need it, but you need to walk. What's your name?"

I glanced up at her, squinting. The light from the hallway was bright enough to hurt, shrouding the doorway in a blinding corona that made everything else in the room a plain silhouette.

"I'm Charlie," I said.

"Charlie?" Nicholas asked. "That's an odd name."

My eyes were slowly adjusting in the darkness, and I began to make out more details. I was still in the same room, and the table I was sitting on was the same one the Krakoshans had been using. I shuddered, but the memory was a blur. The last thing I remembered...the last thing I remembered was being caught.

The lab table was surrounded by a ring of carts and monitors, everything on wheels and connected by insulated wires to outlets in the ground. Nicholas was somewhere to my right, still shrouded in shadow, but Amala was standing just far enough away from the door that the light illuminated her features. She was young, probably a year or two younger than me, with skin that was dark like a deep tan. Her dark hair fell in waves to her shoulders, sharply contrasting her semi-formal plain white collared dress, and I noticed that she kept one hand out to the side. There was a plasma pistol in that hand.

"Kruahn," she snapped. "Are there any more prisoners?"

A Krakoshan head popped in, peering around.

"No, not anymore," the Krakoshan answered. "One is loose, and three Institute subjects were relocated to Fort 34 for processing."

Peter.

"Thank you for your help," Amala said.

Then, she shot the Krakoshan in the head. As the body crumpled to the floor, she pointed at me. I gasped back at her, staring at the dead scientist on the floor.

"Get him on his feet," she snapped. "We have to go."

"She wasn't done talking," I choked. "You - you killed her!"

"She was done talking to me," the girl answered. "We have to leave or else the Krakoshans will intercept us."

Amala started to walk back outside, but I stopped her, reaching out and grasping her forearm with my hand. She shot me a cold look, so I released her.

"How did you find us?" I asked. "Where did you come from?"

"Hurry," Amala snapped. "There's no time to loiter around."

She came around and got on my other side and together, she and Nicholas helped me up. I almost let them, but the stubbornness in me refused. Instead, I pushed them away and stood.

"Where's my bag?" I asked. "I lost my bag."

The girl tilted her head, staring at me.

"What bag?" she asked.

"My backpack," I said. "When they took me here, they tossed my backpack somewhere nearby. Is it still in this room?"

"Is this it?" Nicholas asked.

He was standing in the corner, holding up something. I squinted at it in the darkness, looking at the familiar shape.

"Yes," I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "That's mine."

"Found it in the corner," he said. "Why didn't they take it away?"

"I don't know," I muttered.

"Because you haven't been here that long," Amala said.

I looked at her, and she shrugged.

"It says so right here, on your case file," she said, tapping a nearby screen.

"You can read Krakoshan?" I asked.

She didn't answer, walking out of the room and into the hallway. The other boy, Nicholas, followed her out, and I stayed close behind. As he emerged into the light, I could see he seemed to be around my age, maybe a bit younger. He had dark hair and lightly tanned skin, and he wore a black Kingsfield military-style field jacket.

The hallway outside was much emptier than before; the last time I'd seen these hallways, they were full of Krakoshans, preparing to run their experiments on me.

People appeared down the hallway to my left, and I turned my attention to them. Five kids rounded the corner together, walking over to us. I recognized Tanvir, Bekah and Calvin, all looking battered and bruised but otherwise unharmed. A stocky boy and a tall blonde girl led the way, but I didn't recognize them. Tanvir seemed better, walking on his own, but he held a hand to his side where the injury was. He smiled when he saw me, a grin of relief, but Bekah gave a cry.

"Charlie!" she shouted. "You're alright!"

The relief in her voice couldn't be more obvious, but Amala cut into the moment.

"Is this all of you?"

I ignored the girl, Amala, turning my attention to my friends. I couldn't keep the grin off my face, somehow feeling relieved that we were all together again. Suddenly seeing them here almost made me forget my own pain. This felt like a dream, but even if it was one, it was a good dream.

"Yeah, I'm alright," I said to Bekah. "You guys look terrible, by the way."

That brought a smile out of even the normally stoic Calvin. Tanvir nodded, pressing his hand firmly against his bandages, but he didn't say anything other than flash me another pained smile. Bekah suddenly started talking rapidly, the words spilling out of her as if they had been pent up all this time.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked. "We were cornered by Krakoshans and I tried shouting for you, and I was hoping you would make it out safely."

"There's no time for idle talk," Amala snapped, but I tuned her out.

"I did," I said, answering Bekah. "I followed you guys and snuck into a pod to get into this base, and I sent out a distress signal to get help. I was captured shortly after that by a snake monster. Oh, and I briefly took someone hostage."

"You're the one who sent the distress signal?" Nicholas asked incredulously.

"Yeah," I said proudly, turning to him. "Why?"

"That's why we're here," he said excitedly. "We picked it up. A Kingsfield distress code."

I grinned even wider. Someone had actually received my distress signal! I suddenly felt like laughing. I had been hoping for some foreign aid, maybe some sentient species on a planet nearby would have picked up my signal and flown in to help, but instead I attracted a bunch of Kinetics in the neighborhood. Somehow, it all had worked out.

Amala cleared her throat, bringing my attention back to her. I became aware of Amala glaring at me, her arms folded with barely contained impatience and anger. I blinked, remembering that I had been ignoring her, and did my best to look abashed.

"Oops, forgot to introduce you guys," I added. I pointed to each of my friends in turn, introducing them. "That's Tanvir, Bekah, and Calvin. Actually, we don't know his name, but we call him Calvin and he listens when you call him that."

"What's your name, child?" Amala demanded.

The little boy, Calvin, scampered behind my legs, hiding from her. Apparently, Amala wasn't very good with kids.

A sudden rumble shook the base, the walls rattling violently. Dust started to rain down, but Bekah raised her hands and pushed the dust aside with a swirl of air. For a moment, everyone stood in shock, even our rescuers.

"Not you guys?" Tanvir asked hesitantly.

"No," Nicholas answered.

Then, Amala broke the moment, waving toward one end of the hallway.

"We have to move!" Amala shouted. "This way!"

She started running, leading us through twists and turns and forks in the hallway. Our strange group trailed along, the other boy and girl lagging behind to support Tanvir. The tall girl had platinum blonde hair that she kept back in a tight ponytail and she wore a sweatshirt and long pants. She also looked pretty fit. The stocky boy had auburn hair like Bekah, and was dressed in a patterned shirt with plain shorts.

"What's your name?" the boy asked.

"I'm Charlie," I told him.

"Garth," he replied. "You met Amala and Nicholas."

I glanced to the front of our group, where Amala was leading the way.

"Yeah," I said. I glanced back at the tall girl. "What's-"

"Selene," she answered. "Hi."

Suddenly, we heard plasmafire crackling up ahead, and when we rounded the corner, Amala held us back, putting her arms out to form a wall. Before us, the hallway was littered with dead Krakoshans, scattered all over as if someone had torn through them. When I took another look, I realized that someone had torn through them, quite literally. Whoever he was, he was powerful and physically strong. The Krakoshans lying on the ground wore special gear, but it didn't hide the fact that whoever had taken them down had done it easily, punching straight through their armor. On the ground, a massive snake-like creature lay prone, its entire backside soaked blue. There was also a large hole in the wall. My guess was whatever did in the snake Krakoshan must have made the hole.

"Vishnu preserve us," Tanvir groaned, Selene and Garth supporting him. "What the hell happened here?"

"Escaped..." Amala muttered under her breath. "Oh, Zeus."

"What is it?" Nicholas asked, grimacing at the sight of the bodies.

"There was a fifth kid," Amala said. "They had five in captivity, and one got out. I think this is his doing."

"What fifth kid?" I demanded, doing my best not to stare at the gore, but she ignored me.

"He just tore a hole through the wall," Garth said in amazement.

"We have to keep moving," Amala growled.

She turned sharply on her heel, leading us away from the dead bodies. Eventually, after a minute or so of running through the base, she slowed to a stop, leading us into a hallway that led to a dead end. A door lay on the far side, and we rushed toward it. Just before we reached it, another rumble shook the ground, causing us to stumble. Calvin tripped, falling over, and I helped him back up. Amala put a hand to the wall, stabilizing herself as she turned to address the rest of us.

"Beyond this door is our ship," she announced. "When we emerge, the ramp will lower and you must run directly to the ship. If you slow down or stop to fight, you will be lost."

We all nodded and she opened the door, leading us into a battlefield.

It looked like the same hangar I'd been in two nights ago, but somehow, it was vastly different. Krakoshans were everywhere, hefting plasma rifles and shouting as they rushed to find cover. Heavy plasma rounds blasted from one of the skyhopper's cannons, and it took me a moment to realize that it was shooting at the Krakoshans. One of the rounds struck a stack of crates, throwing dirt, boxes, and Krakoshans sky-high. A dozen chargers zipped by, the arrowhead-shaped vehicles returning fire to the skyhopper. Screams and explosions filled the air, mixing with the burnt smell of plasmafire.

"Odin's crows," Bekah gasped. "This is a war zone."

I looked outside the hangar doors, now open, and suddenly realized why everything looked so familiar. This was the same airfield my friends and I had attacked two nights ago. We were back in the same base.

A roar drew my attention outside the hangar to a tall dark-skinned boy, engaged in battle with two strange Krakoshans, swinging a banged up rifle over his head. The boy spun and danced, but no matter how much he struck, the two Krakoshans seemed even faster, one of them literally blurring around the boy. When the boy rolled to his feet, my mouth dropped, staring at him. Most of his upper body was covered in an array of scars, burn marks and slashes that hadn't quite properly healed. This boy must have been the same one who caused so much damage to the base.

"What the hell...?" I muttered.

Amala suddenly appeared beside me, giving me a rough shove.

"Move!" she shouted. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Move!"

I tore my eyes off the spectacle, running in the direction Amala was pushing me.

Up ahead, the ramp lowered on the skyhopper, revealing a girl a few years older than me. She had dark hair that was cut to a short bob, and she wore tight pants and a jacket with many pockets. When she saw us, she started shouting at us, waving us onwards.

"Come on!" she shouted. "Hurry!"

The next few moments passed by almost in a blur. It all happened so fast, it felt like a blink-and-you-miss-it moment.

The Krakoshan appeared from behind the ship's ramp, decked majestically in gold armor. The form-fitting armor covered almost his entire body, seamless plates that overlapped and twisted smoothly with his movements. On his left arm, the shoulder guards was noticeably thick enough to probably act as a shield, and the inner forearms were protected by heavily modded vambraces. A short combat knife and a plasma pistol were equipped at his belt, and the hilt of another blade was barely visible from his side. While the pauldrons on his arms came with a high collar that protected his neck, the Krakoshan's head was fully visible, the light green scales there complementing the gold plating.

At the sight of him, the disfigured boy on the field suddenly gave a roar, a battle cry filled with rage and anger and hate. Before anyone could do more, the Krakoshan stepped forward and drew a short sword from his back, wrapping an arm around the girl's neck from behind. Then, he thrust the sword through her body in a single stroke, keeping a firm grip on her neck as she struggled. I heard someone scream, and then the Krakoshan was drawing his blade out, letting her body fall to the ramp lifelessly.

I slowed, suddenly realizing their objective had changed. They weren't going to pod us, like they were trying to do before.

We were being hunted.

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